Battle of Ruacana
Ruacana is town on the border between Namibia and Angola and was the scene of heavy fighting during the Namibian Bush War 1983-87. The following is an account by S/Sergeant Anasa Kipchoge of the Kenyan Army's 5th (Kenyan) Royal Tank Corps of an encounter with Communist forces on January 1st 1984. S/Sergeant Anasa Kipchoge We were operating with our Vanguards out of a forward operating base three miles west of Ruacana as part of an effort to discourage the Angolan and Cuban tanks from crossing the border to assist the rebels in Namibia. We dug our tanks in and covered them over with brush to break up their lines to provide a decent perimeter around the base which consisted mostly of tents and few vehicles. There were five Vanguards in my company and we were spread out quite far apart so we practised rapidly breaking out from our dug outs to relocate to where an attack might be coming from. It was at 0530 that our spotters reported two tanks making their way through a narrow track running between two hills. They reported they were light tanks and they turned out to be Chinese built Type 63s which the Communists liked to use for reconnaissance. I received a radio call to hold my position; the last thing we wanted was to open a hole in our defences chasing two little tanks. It was tough to see in the early morning light but I managed to spot the first one coming around a corner at the top of the hiull in front of me. The second one popped out behind it. I didn't know if they could see me as we had pretty good cover but I saw a hatch pop open on the lead tank and a guy stood out of it and started taking pictures with a high powered camera of the base behind me. My C/O came over the radio and asked me if I had a clear shot of the two tanks. I replied that I only had a clear shot on the lead tank which was obscuring the second. It was a short while before my C/O decided I should take the shot. I looked at the target through my rangefinder and judging by the size of the Type 63 I worked out he was at a range of 1.8 miles. I gave my gunner the information and he adjusted the L7 gun of my Vanguard accordingly. I was worried that when the gun started moving it might tip them off where we were hiding but they seemed more interested in taking their pictures. I decided to take the shot myself and had a HESH round loaded. I squeezed the trigger as the guy with the camera started to climb back inside. The tank shook as the shell raced out of the gun. I saw the glow of the shell seem to fall slowly on to the Type 63 and as it made contact the whole turret seemed to burst open. Its turret was destroyed but for some reason it started to reverse backwards and started to push the second tank sideways. I ordered a second HESH round to be loaded and looked through the rangefinder as the second Type 63 pulled away in order to get clear of the first. I put the crosshairs over it and fired again. This time I missed and the shell struck the hillside behind the target. The second Type 63 then started going down the hill towards us. The driver had obviously panicked and thought he just needed to get away from the wreck of the first that was now burning profusely. The turret was starting to turn but I don't think he had spotted us yet. I yelled at my loader to get another shell in and a few moments later that felt like hours I squeezed off a third HESH round which hit the forward glacis and the whole thing blew up. It trundled along for a few feet with secondary explosions ripping the turret apart before it came to a stop. I opened the hatch of my Vanguard and climbed through with my binoculars and started scanning the two wrecks looking for survivors we could take prisoner. It was then I heard my C/O's frantic voice over the radio say that more tanks were coming from the west. My tank was ordered to relocate to the western side of the base. I stayed looking out of the hatch as I directed my driver out of the dugout. As the tank turned around I could hear another Vanguard firing in the distance at the approaching tanks. The Vanguard guarding the western approach had been spotted in its dugout and had to pull out as shells landed in front and around of it. I looked out across the plain and saw three dust trails on the horizon. The other Vanguard fired again and I saw one of the dust trails turn to smoke as the enemy tank got hit. I climbed back inside and closed down the hatch. My gunner was trying to find the targets but the terrain was obscuring us.